


a perfect source

by dancingassassin



Category: Gundam 00, Tales of Xillia
Genre: Ali being nice, Crossover, characters meeting for the first time, rieze exia, this clearly won't end in tears
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-18
Updated: 2016-02-18
Packaged: 2018-05-21 09:54:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6047266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dancingassassin/pseuds/dancingassassin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Leia is leaving Setsuna for the day - Ali has been following them. Ali takes the opportunity to get to know the girl following his favorite protege around as well as gain information about the strange world he's found himself in.</p><p>written for second-wings on tumblr!</p><p>crossover between Tales of Xillia 2 and Gundam 00</p>
            </blockquote>





	a perfect source

Ali had been tailing Setsuna and his little lady friend through Trigleph basically the whole day. The girl had far more energy than he could deal with for that amount of time, but Setsuna had seemed happy in her presence. That meant Ali needed to get to know her and eventually _get rid of her_.

But for now, he was content to let Setsuna have his false sense of security and let him try and build a life in this bizarre world. Admittedly, Ali was still adjusting to the lay of the land. Trigleph was laid out strangely and this world in _general_ was very different. The whole magical whatever he’d seen going on was a bit hard to process when he was used to knives and guns for fighting.

But Ali was nothing if not adaptable. He’d learn how this world worked and then find the weaknesses to exploit.

He watched the young woman bidding her goodbyes to Setsuna with far more exuberance than he thought was actually possible for one person to contain. Now was his time to move in.

Ali schooled his face into confusion and obliviousness. His eyes were still sharp, watching everything, though. He took a few quick steps, catching up to the much shorter young woman without much trouble. Then he purposefully bumped into her.

“Oh, I’m sorry…” He usually never uttered those words, but right now he needed to pretend to be charming. “I wasn’t really paying attention.”

The girl, to her credit, managed to stay on her feet. He noted that she had good balance and tucked that away under other traits to remember. Like _friendly acquaintance with Setsuna._

She was short with a petite build, blondish brown hair, and green eyes. She couldn’t be more than 16 or 17. She was smiling even after having someone with Ali’s build smack into her. He wasn’t sure he’d encountered levels of cheerful as high as hers before.

“No worries! The street is busy.” She grinned and adjusted her vibrantly yellow jacket. “Are _you_ alright?”

This girl was far too naïve and kind for her own good. Ali put on an easygoing smile. “Yes, I’m fine. I was just…distracted. I thought I saw someone I know.” He rubbed at the back of his head, the politely confused expression gracing his face once again.

“Oh? The city’s so busy, I can’t really blame you if you thought you saw someone.” She chuckled, her whole face lighting up with the laugh.

“That boy you were with, he’s the one who looked familiar.” Ali sighed.

“Oh, Setsuna? He’s new in the area, but he really looks like my friend Jude, I guess he has one of those faces.” Another laugh. “But…you look kind of lost, sir. Do you need help?”

Really, far too helpful for her own good. One day, someone was going to take advantage of that. Though he supposed he was taking advantage of it _now_. Just not as badly as someone _could_. Ali was being cautious, playing it safe. The longer it took Setsuna to realize how many people Ali had met, the better.

The second his little protégé actually discovered how many people Ali had connected with would be the day his name was dragged through mud. Also, Setsuna would start trying to kill him again. He was certain the attempts would be cute.

“Oh, I couldn’t impose on you…” He let out a weak chuckle, eyes closed for a moment. “I’m sure I’ll figure it out.”

“Really, sir, Trigleph took me awhile to figure out and that was even with help of someone who was from here. I’ll help.” Her smile went closer to sympathetic, but never edging into pity. “My name’s Leia Rolando, what’s yours?”

Now the big question, did he go with his alias or his actual name? If Leia passed on that she’d met someone to Setsuna, his favorite was sure to panic and try to find him. And while that was fun, that was not what he wanted quite yet.

 _Yet_.

“My name is Sayyid El-Amin.” He held his hand out automatically for the handshake. “Really…I appreciate the help, Miss Rolando.”

“Oh, just call me Leia. Where are you from?” She motioned for Ali to follow.

“Far away.” He figured that would suffice. How did one say _I’m from a different world_ without sounding batshit insane? He needed to continue to play things safe. “I’m still getting used to this place.”

“I’m not from Trigleph either, to be honest. I’m from Rieze Maxia.” She hummed as she guided him along.

He found himself led to a public café. Perhaps he needed to reassess her savviness. Either that, or this was just one of her favorite places and she hadn’t thought at all. Ali wasn’t one to underestimate, though.

“Well, one foreigner to another, this city is really stupidly laid out.” Ali snorted as he took a seat, sipping at his water. He chewed on an ice cube absently.

“I know, right?” She laughed as she ordered food for both of them. “It’s like the person who designed the city had a bit too much Ex Machina.”

Well, if getting information on the city meant a free meal, he wasn’t going to say no. Not at all. While he had enough money to pay his own way now – and had actually purchased clothing to help him fit in, he would never be opposed to free food. There had been too many times in his life where he’d had to fight for food.

“Drunk as a skunk.” He chewed on the ice a bit more. “…I just don’t get a lot of the stuff here. Artes…gels…” He shook his head. He was being genuine there. He wasn’t the type to believe in magical whatever, which is what he figured artes amounted to be. The only thing he _truly_ believed in was _money_.

“Why don’t I explain some of it to you?” Leia tilted her head to the side, her smile slightly brighter than before. “If you don’t know it, there’s enough to learn that it seems overwhelming.”

“Right…” He grinned as food was set before him.

Yes, this was perfect. He had someone just _telling_ him everything he needed to know about this place. That was far better than having to eavesdrop and possibly outing himself as being from a different world. Sure, Leia probably thought he was from some small little spit of a town from somewhere in this place, but that was for the better. The fewer people that realized he was from the same world as Setuna the better.

He listened with rapt attention as the young woman spilled the details of this world. This was _exactly_ the source he needed.


End file.
